“Why’d you do that?!”
“Because I couldn’t show my face on there ever again after I literally lit a man on fire!” Why did this topic keep being brought up? I never wanted to think about it again. For the first time in my life, I turned to Liz to save me. “Was there anything else?” I asked.
“Yup. Two more common rumors. The first is that Club Onyx hosts epic games of Capture the Flag. And the other is that they have an Odegaard boutique on-site.”
Chastity scrunched her face to the side. “Very interesting. I always pictured Club Onyx as some underground club in the city, but now it’s sounding like it’s some estate in the Hamptons or something. The hedge maze, the pool party, the water balloon fights…those all require land.”
I nodded in agreement. “I think you’re right. The only problem is that Tanner leaves his apartment at 8 every Tuesday and Thursday. And Society events start at 8:30. He’d never make it to Club Onyx in time. That’s like a 90-minute drive.”
“That’s only a problem if you assume that Club Onyx operates under the same rules as your Society dates,” Chastity said. “And remember how I said that the wishes might be some sort of try-out for your real membership to Club Onyx? Maybe real events for the Society are just…all the time in the Hamptons.” There was a gleeful look in her eyes.
“Rich people do love to hang out at the Hamptons,” I conceded.
“Exactly.” Chastity turned to Liz. “Does that ring any bells? Maybe those crazy rich kids talk about their parents going to the Hamptons several nights a week?”
Liz shrugged. “All the time. But like half of them have a second home there, so that doesn’t tell us much.”
“Can I see your notes again?” asked Chastity.
“Sure.” Liz tossed her the notebook.
Chastity started scanning through the notes. “Wait a second! You know how in Twilight all of the vampires have special powers? Like telepathy and the ability to see the future?”
“Yes…” I said.
“Well what if Liz’s story about the man who can’t cum is about Tanner? That’s his vampire superpower!”
Could that really be it?Tanner had stared at my neck the other night in his office. And he’d looked very hungry while doing it. “But he overheard our conversation the other night about thatbeing his secret. If it was true…don’t you think he would have just finished us off?”
“No, because he loves you. He wouldn’t suck your blood now.”
That was a valid point.
“And when he confronted you about our suspicions, did he deny it?”
I tried to think back to the conversation. I’d ended up asking him a different question. But I couldn’t remember why. Had he deflected it?! “No, he didn’t deny it.”
“Well…there you have it. And this new information about his vampire ability is a game-changer. I think we need to consult the literature.” She walked over and grabbedTwilightoff the shelf. Or she tried to. “What the hell?” she said as she tugged on the spine. “Did you glueTwilightto your shelf to prevent me from reading it?”
“No…”
She pulled a little harder. The book tilted towards her, but before she could fully pull it out, the entire bookshelf swung backwards into the wall. “Uh, Ash. Did you know that this bookshelf is a secret door?”
What the actual hell?
Stalker Problems - Chapter 46 - The Secret Door
Thursday – May 25, 2023
I jumped up and stared into the gaping hole in my wall where my bookshelf used to be. All I could see was darkness. What the hell was in there? I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Had the previous owner of this apartment had a secret room for his murder victims? Or a creepy way to spy on the neighbors?
“Did you seriously get a secret bookshelf door and not tell me about it?” asked Madison. “I thought we’d promised each other that if we ever got one, we’d both install them at the same time.”
“I didn’t know I had a secret bookshelf door until about three seconds ago,” I said.Oh. It’s new! Of course!I took a deep breath. This had to be Tanner’s doing. There weren’t going to be any bodies cut up in little pieces in there.Hopefully.
Madison eyed me suspiciously. “If there’s a Hogwarts-themed reading nook on the other side of that door I’m gonna lose my shit.”
“If there is, then we have Tanner to thank for it. This must be the surprise he mentioned earlier.” I peered into the dark space. “The only question is…what kind of surprise?”
